baldtheologian God's Radical Grace

When Grace Looks Harsh

godsradicalgrace copy

God’s grace has many facets but is the same grace no matter which way we look at it.

When someone utters the word Grace, more often than not the mind wanders to a warm fuzzy feeling. We often think of grace in terms of warm feelings, allowing for differences, and other nice actions. Seldom do we associate a judgement with grace. But did you know that one of God’s most gracious acts was wrapped in a judgement?

Genesis 3 details how Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden. They were given free reign in the Garden. They were supposed to tend the Garden but I’m sure they enjoyed other things as well. I’m positive it was a beautiful life. Imagine living in a perfect world with a beautiful wife and daily walking with the perfect God. What an amazing life. To remain in this place all Adam and Eve had to do was obey. Simple obedience. Well, it isn’t so simple is it.

Adam and Eve sinned. The took and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the only tree that God had told them not to partake. But they didn’t obey and they broke God’s command. The immediate effect of their sin was apparent – their eyes were opened to a world that went way beyond what they thought. Instead of being enlightened as the serpent said they would be, their minds were darkened by sin and shame. God found them and judged them all. After pronouncing His judgment on the serpent, Adam, and Eve, God continued

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24 NASB

God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden – their home – for their sin as a gracious act. Now you may wonder how in the world can expulsion from the very presence of God, His perfect world can be viewed as an act of grace? Let’s take a look.

The key to this is that God wanted to prevent Adam and Eve  from eating from the tree of life and thus living forever. Now why would living forever be a bad thing? Isn’t eternal life a good thing?

Eternal life in Christ is a very good thing. We can be sure of our destination. But eternal life also includes life in eternal separation from God. That means forever being separated from being God’s friend – never being redeemed, always being condemned. That eternal life isn’t such a great thing for those who experience it. But it is the destiny of the unredeemed. And it is exactly what God was graciously preventing from happening to Adam and Eve.

If Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of life while in their sinful state, they would have never died, never been redeemed and never been reconciled. As the head of the human race, this means that their children (read us) would probably be in the same status: unredeemable. God’s grace said NO! to that proposition.

God expelled Adam and Eve in order to redeem them. He expelled them so they could not live forever in their sinful state. He expelled them so that He would draw them closer to Him. He expelled them because He loved them and desired them to spend etenity with Him. That is grace.

Amazing grace. Radical grace

When you think of God shedding His grace on you, remember that

When He disciplines you, He is beng gracious to you. He doesn’t want you to continue in unrighteous behaviours, but to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

When God takes through trials – whatever type they may be – know that He is acting graciously towards you so that you will grow in Him.

When you face hardships, whether those are of the financial type, health type, or some other type, know that God is acting graciously towards you.

 

God’s grace has many facets but is the same grace no matter which way we look at it. It is His grace that He extends to us. His unmerited favor that He grants to us. The fact that He extends it to us – a sinful, rebellious, self-absorbed people – is something truly amazing.

God’s grace IS radical.

 

baldtheologian God's Radical Grace

The Look

godsradicalgrace copy

But what does grace look like? Would you or I recognize grace each time it happens?

In recent articles I have discussed what grace is and our need for grace. But what does grace look like? Would you or I recognize grace each time it happens? My first reaction was an unqualified *Yes*. But as I thought about this more my first reaction seemed to be incorrect. Sometimes grace doesn’t look like what we expect. For the next few articles we will be looking for grace in all the right places. I think you may be surprised by where we find grace.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him – Genesis 2:18-20 NASB

In Genesis 2 we see a more detailed view of creation as described in chapter 1. I want to focus on God and his created man. Notice a few things about this passage. First, notice that God acted graciously in finding a helper for him. He created all the beasts of the field and birds of the sky for his created man. All these creatures were made to help out man. However, not one of them was suitable for him. How can this be?

A big clue to this is the meaning of the word translated helper here. The Hebrew word here is the word kenegdo. The literal meaning of this word is according to the opposite to him. This puts a different spin on the term helper doesn’t it. The search was for a companion for the man but none of the animals brought to the man are suitable for him. Not one of them meets the need that the man has. So what does God do in response to this? Does He say “Oh well dude. Better get accustomed to being disappointed. Life will be hard, deal with it.” No, God showed his man grace.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”  – Genesis 2:21-23 NASB

God graciously provided exactly what Adam needed.

From the man God took a rib. God performed the first surgery in history as an act of grace. That’s pretty cool. Anyway, God took a rib and formed it into a suitable helper for the man. Remember that the term helper means one who corresponds to him. God is making someone who will complement and complete him. How gracious is that!

God chose to make a companion for him. God didn’t start from scratch either. God took from Adam’s side and fashioned it into a companion. The woman reflected Adam well. She was a perfect compliment to Adam. All that Adam needed in a companion, the woman had. God graciously provided exactly – EXACTLY – what Adam needed. How gracious is that!

God has been gracious to man throughout history. He makes provision for our needs and He does this out of His grace, not our desire. This is how grace looks. This is God’s grace to man. But it doesn’t end here. In the coming articles we explore other acts of God’s grace to give us a fuller picture of it. Some of the examples I’ll use may not seem too gracious but rest assured they are.

He makes provision for our needs and He does this out of His grace, not our desire. This is how grace looks.

Look for God’s grace in your life. You won’t have to look too far or too long to discover it. When you do discover it, thank God for it. His grace abounds in your life and  mine. Let’s rejoice in that grace! Let’s celebrate that grace! Let’s experience that grace, all to the glory of God.

baldtheologian God's Radical Grace

The Need

godsradicalgrace copy

In my previous articles I have presented grace as a necessary attribute of God and an action of God towards us. In order to fully grasp grace – at least as fully grasp it as we can – we must first understand that we are sinners in dire need of grace.

Now what do I mean by “We are sinners”? Well, we are a rebellious people who desire their own way rather than God’s way. We are bent toward evil, not good. Every perception we have, every inclination, every thought is tainted and influenced, and, if we are honest, driven by the will to do our own evil bidding rather than what is right.

God, through the Apostle Paul, states that

There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. – Romans 3:10-18 NASB

Seems pretty clear to me. We are not righteous, we don’t understand, we don’t seek after God. We have turned from God and His ways, we steal, murder, curse and we don’t know peace, This is a pretty ugly picture of mankind, isn’t it! There is no room for pop psychology or warm fuzzy feelings for felt needs in Paul’s letter to the Romans. He paints a bleak picture of humanity. But wait, there’s more!

Just in case you were trying to figure a way of reading the previous passage without using the word sin, Paul takes care of that in just a few verses:

 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23 NASB

The word All means you and me. It means every Jew and gentile. If you are human, you are included in this. Oh boy, now I’ve done it. We are actually equal. We are equally corrupt, equally sinful (though the expression may be different), equally under judgment, and equally worthy of hell for eternity.

ALL of us humans are equally under the condemnation of God.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 NASB

Payday is coming, folks. Each of us will receive what is due. In Romans six Paul clearly and unequivocally states that death is the result of sin. The term death does not imply or mean cessation of existence. No, it simply means separation. Physical death is when the material and immaterial parts of a human are separated . When that occurs, the body ceases to function and the spirit or soul leaves.

Spiritual death occurs when we stand before God and are judged. Not one of our works – regardless of how good it may seem – is going to do anything to keep us from being separated from God for eternity. Once our soul leaves our body we cannot ever be reconciled to God, unless we experienced that reconciliation prior to that moment. We are most definitely in a pickle. All of us.

This is where grace enters into our lives. God offers His salvation by His grace. We must appropriate His grace through faith. Salvation – the freedom from sin and its consequences – is granted by God by His grace through faith

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and ]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8 NASB

God’s grace changes our trajectory in eternity.

Though we were destined for eternal separation from God because of our sin, when God invades our lives and grants His salvation by His grace through our faith, our destiny is changed., Forever.

No longer are we destined for eternal separation from God. No, we are now destined to an eternity in the very presence of God. God’s grace does that. God’s grace is THAT powerful.

baldtheologian God's Radical Grace

Grace is

godsradicalgrace copy

God is gracious towards me and you.

In my last article I stressed that grace is who God is. God is grace. Of course that is just one of His coequal attributes, but it is the one we are focusing on at the moment. So does it end there? Simply say “God is grace” and that is all we need to know about Him and His radical grace? Not by a mile.

Who we are informs what we do. This is true of you and me. Our being – the true person we are – is always shown through our actions. If we are a kind person, our actions will show that. If we are cruel, then we will show we are cruel. We can cover ourselves for a while, but the true person always – ALWAYS – shows through the mask we try to wear. The same is true for God. Well, except He doesn’t try to hide who He is. But who He is always shows through to us, if we are willing to open our eyes and behold it.

 

Grace is, at its core, unmerited favor. It is something that is not earned or deserved.

It is something that actually cannot be earned and is not deserved. But it is given nonetheless. So imagine if you and I were grace. We not only possessed grace, but were actually grace. We would find someone to shed that grace on, wouldn’t we. The same is true for God. He doesn’t need to look far in order to find those who are in need of grace does he?

The world He created is full of rebellious, sinful people who continually look for their own good. This present generation is a sight to behold. We sin and like it. We rebel and want more of it. We are a stiff-necked people. Proud of our insubordination. Proud of our sin. Proud of our godless culture. We exclaim “We are wise!” and thus demonstrate or foolishness. We are a needy people who believe we have abundance. We are a sorry lot indeed.

We deserve to be punished. We deserve to be forgotten, wiped off the face of the earth. Yes we do. But you know what? We aren’t the first group of malcontents that God has endured. We aren’t the first groups of self-absorbed, self-righteous people He has wrestled. No, we aren’t the first. And we won’t be the last.

 

Grace Informs

God, being a God who is grace, acts according to His being. He will never contradict who He is. Back in Exodus, we see an event where  God acts upon His nature – acts according to His being. Let’s take a look at what is done and what we can glean from it.

Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own[ possession.” Exodus 34:8-9 NASB

 

Moses, knowing who God is, is now asking God to act according to His being, not according to who the Israelites were. The first thing I notice is that Moses was quick to bow down in worship.The Hebrew word translated bow is qadad. It means to shrivel, bends one’s neck, stoop down in deference. Think of Moses on his knees, then bending even more so his face touches the ground. This is how he is before God. It is a position of humility.

While in this humble position of submission, he asks God basically a couple of things, with one predicated on the other. He first asks if [he] has found favor in God’s sight. That word for favor – chen – can mean grace.  Wow, Moses was looking for grace. The way Moses asks this is tantamount to asking that God grant grace to him. But this isn’t for Moses. And yet again we see the heart that made Moses such a great leader. His concern was for the people of Israel.

He then asks God to 1) go along with Israel; 2) forgive their sin; and 3) take them as His possession. In other words, Moses is asking God to act graciously towards the nation. I don’t think Moses was questioning whether God is the God of grace. No, I think Mose was counting on that.

Among the request for gracious action is the reason that graciousness is required: we are obstinate and sinful. Now there is some honesty! How we could use some of that today.

So what happened? Well, God acted according to who He is, not what Israel deserved.

He was – and is – gracious towards them.

I need to stress that none of God’s attributes operate in isolation from His other attributes. Also, non of His attributes is more important or more powerful than the others. This may sound strange and difficult to grasp, but it is true.

So God’s holiness does not operate independently of His love, righteousness, or grace. So too, His righteousness – which demands a payment for sin – does not operate independently of His love. Grace is sort of the bridge between these two. It kind of connects His love with His holiness. This is a very imperfect analogy but it is the best I can do. Somehow, these seemingly contradictory attributes work in perfect harmony. His grace allows Him to not to exact a payment from those who have wronged Him and sinned against Him.

He has expressed His grace is a number of ways. Think about the salvation you enjoy. It is by grace.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB

The fact that God came to us in the form of a man is an act of grace.

 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 NASB

It was His grace that took Him to the cross for sins committed by us. It was His grace that hung Him on that tree – that old rugged cross – for your sins and mine.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians 1:9 NASB

There are many other ways God demonstrates His grace to us. Some of them are obvious. Others aren’t so obvious. But they all are demonstrations of who He is.  Take time this next week to look for His grace in your life. Take time to write those grace moments down. Reflect on them. I dare you to look for His grace in your life. If you do, you’ll find much more than you think is there.

God is gracious towards me and you.